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Poaching Lessons

August 8, 2011, 2:02 pm

By Gene C. Fant Jr.

The prevailing sentiment among academic leaders is that we are currently in a “buyer’s market” for faculty searches. Institutions with open positions are in the enviable position of being much more selective than might have been possible in years past. This has opened up the opportunity for some universities to steal faculty away from others, particularly those that are undergoing financial setbacks or collegiality problems. Sometimes, however, it’s a strategy for attracting under-represented faculty by gender or ethnicity. We hear about prominent raids in The Chronicle, of course, but this sort of recruitment goes on at all institutional levels.

The trickiest part of a raid is the opening contact. Some institutions simply send a “dear colleague” e-mail, with a general query and link to the position. Others will arrange for an elaborate, quiet dinner in a neutral (i.e., less visible) city. Still others will work through third parties to gauge interest and initiate the conversation.

Have you ever been a part of enticing an established scholar to another institution? What are the pitfalls or rewards for either side of the process?

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  • gsudduth

    Interdisciplinary doesn’t EVEN want to hear from MFA artists; after being riffed I haven’t gotten much more than a ‘thanks for applying’ if that.

  • assistantprofessor

    Please come poach me.

  • djr46074

    A common strategy in the sciences is to invite the potential candidate to give a lecture.  During the visit, you delicately broach the topic of relocation.  If he/she is not interested, you still benefit from hearing them talk about their scholarly activity.

  • oatmeal

    Two institutions have tried to “poach me.” One involved the president meeting me at a conference and having a long conversation followed by an invite to the campus. I did not take the job that was offered (for many reasons). Another involved a colleague who became a Dean and wanted me to go to the new institution. I just could not go there for many reasons. Both times it was very flattering though I am not sure I was an established scholar at that stage. 

  • goodeyes

    My experience is that excellent candidates are rare.   It is a sellers market if you want the best.

  • cerebellum

    I can’t find it listed yet on Google eBooks, but what a great idea!

  • http://twitter.com/kybookmarketer John P. Hussey

    @cerebellum The Google eBookstore link to download your #FREE copy of @BobEdwardsShow new memoir is now up and running! http://ow.ly/6jVTi

  • crankycat

    Tee-totally awesome – can’t wait to read this one. Love his “Weekend” show, makes it worthwhile to run errands just to be in the car to listen.

  • arcusprotus

    you know what I’m sick of? people like unemployed northeastern whining about the state of things and not taking any personal repsonsibility for it.  So you went to Wesleyan (or whatever) and then went to law school and passed the bar, and that should have been good enough to land a job?  And if not, its because the lib arts degree you got isn’t valuable?  Grow up.

    I also went to a NESCAC school (not Amherst or Williams), and was scheduled to graduate in 2003, but dropped out after 2.5 years.  I then busted my ass for years waiting tables, bartending, etc. and learned that not everything in life is handed to me.  With that newfound revelation I went back to school, earned good grades and good recs, clawed my way into a T14 law school, and then pounded the pavement until April of my 3L year (2011) until I landed a job.  Now I use what I learned at my lib arts schools everyday – how to interact with others, think progressively, communicate effectively, and service clients of many different backgrounds – writers, businessmen, doctors, etc.  My lib arts degree helps me be the rounded person I need to be a good attorney.

    That your lib arts degree hasn’t helped a job fall into your lap is not the fault of the degree, its the fault of the holder.  I know its tough out there for most people, but – and I see your comments on ATL and other places – I get the impression you don’t want to do the things necessary to make use of the skill you should have gained along the way, including those acquired at your prestigous liberal college.  It took me 3 years of hard crappy jobs, 2 years at a less crappy job, and 3 years of constant applying and interviewing for a law job to EARN the opportunity I have now.  Can you say the same?

    If in fact you have been busting your butt all this time trying to get a job and were still unsuccesful, maybe you should consider that your attitude is getting in the way of your success.  I know that if I were hiring, and somebody walked into my office with the attitude you display in your comments all over the web, I’d probably find someone else who sounds grateful for the opportunities they’ve had and not resentful that they haven’t amounted to more.

  • Unemployed_Northeastern

    It would be hard for my attitude to get in the way when I have barely been able to land one interview per year since law school, in any profession.  I’m glad that your lib arts degree and vaunted T14 law degree (I am ever so impressed) got you a job.  To paraphrase your post, your employment is not a result of your degrees or awesome work ethic, it is a result of LUCK.  Blind, stupid luck.  Lots of people with resumes similar to our own have been unemployed – not underemployed – for years, despite their best efforts to become otherwise.  You can smear people like myself all you want, but know that you can fall back into the pit overnight.  As you infer yourself, you have no idea how much/long/earnestly I have been looking for work, yet assume the worst because I don’t match whatever half-delusional Horatio Alger standard you seem to have applied to yourself.  Honestly, do you think my cover letters look like my posts?  That I harangue and demagogue the educational system in my once-in-a-blue-moon interviews?  Come, now.  That’s as specious and hollow an argument as if I lambasted you for dropping out of undergrad, which would just be rude and unfounded. Under your standard of understanding and empathy, though, perhaps I should.

    I often acknowledge that I have failed, many times.  I went to an incredibly overrated college.  Didn’t have a marketable or vocationally-oriented major.  Certainly didn’t go to a law school that anyone respects, yourself included.  Graduated headlong into two different recessions.  Interned, between undergrad and law school, for at least four different organizations that have gone the way of the passenger pigeon.  Have a work history gap that may as well be a listing of infectious diseases for all the good it does me.  I seem to agitate people like yourself who want to put blinders on and pretend that thousands of college/advanced degree holders aren’t drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt while hoping to become a bartender at the Olive Garden or a customer service associate at Target.  By the way, if you don’t like my posts, DON’T READ THEM.  I am far, far from being the most prolific poster here, on Above the Law, or anywhere else.  I have never, ever said I was entitled to a job, or anything like it, and if you have read my posts, you know that.

  • arcusprotus

    To be fair, that was a great response. Horatian Alger. Nailed it. I concede I don’t know why you haven’t been able to land a job. No doubt a stroke of bad luck has played a part – just as a stroke of good luck certainly helped me. I’m not above admitting that. I’m sure you haven’t been sitting on your ass, and I’m sorry you haven’t found anything yet.

    I stand by my sentiment, however, that I’m tired of the large contingent of posters I read (or friends i listen to) who just want to rail on the education system they believe failed them. “Nobody told me not to be a philosophy major.” “Nobody told me getting a high paying job in a competitive field was gonna be difficult.” Gimme a break. I probably grouped your post in with that group in a moment of particular annoyance, and it came out sharper than I meant, perhaps like your posts can sometimes.

    You sound like a smart guy, and I expect something will come along that you’ll be happy about soon enough. When it does, though, remember that it will have nothing to do with what degree you got at what undergrad institution. Just like that has nothing to do with why you don’t have a job yet.

  • Unemployed_Northeastern

    Hey, don’t worry about it. What are Internet comment boards for if not overinflamed sentiments, trolling, pour grammer, and the rapid and inevitable invocation of Godwin’s Law whenever politics is involved? We are all guilty of these sins from time to time, though hopefully not for Godwin’s.

  • http://profiles.google.com/greatcollegeplanning Susie Watts

    As a private college counselor, I am a believer in the liberal arts.  I have talked with many employers who have been very candid about their willingness to hire an individual with a liberal arts major.  Their point is that liberal arts majors have learned how to think critically, communicate verbally and in writing, and have the potential to be very successful in any business.  They have gone on to say that they can teach a liberal arts major about a business, but they can’t always teach a business major the skills they need to succeed in that business. 

    College Direction
    http://www.collegedirection.org

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